Are you a smoothie fan? I am. I love the ease of smoothies, and I enjoy starting my day with some good healthy protein and fruits. I have a handful of go-to recipes, but my friend Lee recently posted something totally different on facebook and I just had to try it. Because if Lee likes it, well, it has to be good 🙂

And guess what! I loved it. So much more than I expected to. Somehow the smoothie is way better than you would expect. As a bonus, it is packed with superfoods. So what is this concoction that is so good that this morning I remarked that I could have it for dessert?

I admit, I wasn’t sure about this. I’m not as big a fan of pumpkin as others . And while I’d tried putting spinach in smoothies, and agreed that you can’t taste it, I wasn’t sure how it would work in this recipe.

Just trust me. It is awesome. If you don’t like it, I will finish your for you.

When I googled Pumpkin Pie Green Monster, I found lots of websites that featured it. There appear to be a few different variations and I don’t know where the recipe originated. Here’s the version I’ve been making.

Source: Full Measure of Happiness

Blogger Lauren, at Full Measure of Happiness, does a lot better job of blogging this recipe than I will, so feel free to check out her post with lots of pictures. Here’s the recipe she posted:

Pumpkin Pie Green Monster

1 C milk

1 ripe (frozen, if possible) banana

1/8 C oats

1/3 C pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix!)

2 handfuls baby spinach

1/2 t cinnamon

sprinkle of nutmeg or cloves

couple of ice cubes

Combine liquids and light stuff on the bottom, weighted down by the banana and ice. Blend until smooth.

The oats are optional. And FYI, use regular oats, not steel cut.

We use unsweetened almond milk some mornings, and organic 1% milk others. We’ve added chia seeds, protein powder, and greek yogurt with good results. So play around with it and do what works for you.

And please, don’t be scared off by the spinach. I promise you can’t taste it. And if you have kids, they might think it is really cool to drink something green. Only you need to know how awesome it is for them.